- Choose Career for FEN scenarios and medal objectives, Franchise for an online network of zoos and Wildlife Reserves, or Sandbox for adjustable economy and animal-welfare settings.
- Franchise requires online access and a Frontier account. Its zoos share Conservation Credits, while each zoo keeps its own Cash.
- Career accreditation does not advance Franchise accreditation. Player trading and cross-platform Workshop sharing do not make Planet Zoo 2 a multiplayer game.
Choose by the kind of session you want
| Mode | Main task | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Career | Follow FEN conservation scenarios and complete objectives for Bronze, Silver and Gold medals. | You want structured goals and a guided conservation story. |
| Franchise | Develop connected zoos and Wildlife Reserves, trade habitat animals and join Community Challenges. | You want an ongoing online network and player-market participation. |
| Sandbox | Adjust economy and animal-welfare settings for a zoo or reserve. | You want to build with your own constraints, including more creative or challenging settings. |
Evidence: The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2
These are goal-based choices, not a ranking. Career gives you scenario objectives; Sandbox lets you set constraints; Franchise connects multiple sites and includes online activities. The official guide names these three main modes. It does not establish a separate fourth management mode called Zookeeper Mode.
Evidence: The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2
Start a Franchise zoo
Open Franchise and sign in
Choose Franchise, then enter your Frontier account details. The official workflow requires signing up if you do not have an account.
Create the Franchise identity
Choose Start New Franchise +, then set its name, banner colour and sticker.
Create the zoo
Select a biome and continent, then give the zoo a name. The guide says the created Franchise zoo can take part in Community Challenges.
Evidence: The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2
Franchise is explicitly online. The FAQ’s general offline-play answer must not be read as an exception for this mode. If offline play is essential for your session, choose an appropriate offline mode instead of planning around an unavailable Franchise connection.
Evidence: The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2 · Help - Planet Zoo 2
Start Career or set your own Sandbox rules
For Career, open Career and choose Start New Career +. After Eric Ashford’s welcome letter, the documented starting point is the first Chapter 1 location, using Travel to Wildlife Reserve. Scenario objectives then lead you toward medals.
Evidence: The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2
For Sandbox, choose Create New Zoo or Create New Wildlife Reserve. A zoo setup includes biome, continent, name, Default/Creative/Challenge presets and Flat or Sculpted terrain. Open Sandbox Settings if you want to customise economy or animal-welfare options rather than relying on the preset name.
Evidence: The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2
A Sandbox reserve uses its own setup: choose the reserve and name, then use Default, Creative or custom settings. You can also decide whether its ecosystems begin established. This distinction matters if your aim is ecosystem restoration rather than designing a zoo.
Evidence: The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2
Trading and sharing are not multiplayer
The official FAQ explicitly says there is no multiplayer. It also supports sharing parks and blueprints across platforms through the in-game Workshop. Franchise animal trading and Community Challenges therefore describe community features, rather than two people jointly controlling the same zoo.
Evidence: Help - Planet Zoo 2 · The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2
Workshop downloading and sharing require internet access. A downloaded game has offline play according to the FAQ, subject to the separate Franchise requirement above. Check the mode before disconnecting, rather than assuming all features follow the same rule.
Evidence: Help - Planet Zoo 2 · The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2
Documentation scope
This guide rewrites official mode and management instructions checked on 19 October 2026. The latest observed update context is 1.0.5, dated 16 October 2026. It is a documentation-based explanation; no account login, live challenge, market transaction or gameplay session was tested.
Evidence: The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2 · Zoo Management - Guides - Planet Zoo 2
Sources and scope
Official documentation checked on 19 October 2026; latest observed update context: 1.0.5 (16 October 2026). Retained-source synthesis only; no installed-client, performance or entitlement test.
- Review status
- verified
- Review context
- Documentation checked 19 October 2026; update context 1.0.5 (16 October 2026). Editorial review 20 October 2026; no source refresh.
- Checked
- Method
- Independent editorial review of the complete article, SEO and source records against retained snapshots and exact excerpts. Sources were checked on 19 October 2026; no current-client or gameplay test.
- The Basics - Guides - Planet Zoo 2 first-party
Official documentation for the cited sections; publisher statements, not independently reproduced gameplay.
Checked
- Zoo Management - Guides - Planet Zoo 2 first-party
Official documentation for the cited sections; publisher statements, not independently reproduced gameplay.
Checked
- Planet Zoo 2 - Player Feedback and Planned Maintenance - Planet Zoo 2 first-party
Official documentation for the cited sections; publisher statements, not independently reproduced gameplay.
Checked
- Help - Planet Zoo 2 first-party
Official documentation for the cited sections; publisher statements, not independently reproduced gameplay.
Checked